MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS ' 23, 



flowers are usually somewhat less enclosed by bracts than 

 those of grasses ; the perianth is absent or rudimentary ; 

 stamens generally 3 ; style 2-cleft or 3-cleft. 



The flower cluster and the flower may be understood from 

 an inspection of Fig. 4. 



The species are even more difficult to determine than those 

 of grasses. 



ARA'CE^. Arum Family 



Smooth, perennial herbs, generally growing in wet places. 

 Leaves large, radical or alternate. Flowers sessile, crowded 

 on a spadix which is surrounded by a broad sheathing spathe. 

 Perianth in our representative with 4 divisions. Ovary 

 2-celled and 2-ovuled. Fruit consisting of berries which 

 coalesce on the spadix. 



LYSICHFTON, Skunk Cabbage 



Leaves large, 1-3 ft. long and often a foot broad, growing 

 from a thick rootstock. Spadix at first covered by a yellow- 

 ish green spathe, later extending beyond it on a stout 

 peduncle. Flowers covering the spadix. Stamens 4, oppo- 

 site the segments of the perianth, with 2-celled anthers 

 opening upwards. 



L. Kamtschatcen'sis Schott. This is found in swamps from 

 northern California to Alaska. It blooms in May and June. It is 

 a beautiful plant with large, broad leaves, covering the swamps, but 

 it has a strong and disagreeable odor, from which the common 

 name is derived. 



LILIA'CE^. Lily Family 



Herbs. Flowers regular and symmetrical, with their parts 

 3 or some multiple of 3. Ovary 3-celled, free from the 

 perianth. Fruit a capsule or berry. Seeds with endosperm 

 (/.Fig. 5; 6. Fig. 8,1). 



